Malaysia said clashes between intruding Filipino militants and its security forces had left 60 people dead as of late on Thursday, as it rejected a ceasefire offer from the fighters’ leader.
Police chief Ismail Omar said 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan had been killed in two confrontations since Wednesday near the scene of a three-week standoff in Sabah state, after a military assault to dislodge them.
That brought the total dead to 60, including 52 militants. Eight Malaysian policemen were killed in skirmishes last weekend.
Troops and police are currently hunting the Islamic militants in a remote region of Borneo island, where they landed last month to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia’s worst security crisis in years.
A spokesman for their Manila-based leader, who called for a midday ceasefire, said 235 people, including eight women, took part in the original incursion.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who flew to the region on Thursday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine leader Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected.